Strange seashell found on the Outer Banks puzzles social media. What happened to it?

Weird things are often dumped on Outer Banks beaches by the Gulf Stream, and a good example appeared this week at Cape Lookout National Seashore.

Something resembling a creepy fossilized heart was found, with calcified vein-like structures attached.

Photos of the unusual beach discovery were shared on Facebook by the National Park Service, along with a challenge to help unravel the mystery.

“The shell had once belonged to an oyster, but it had become the home to about four other marine species,” Cape Lookout National Seashore posted. “Take a close look: Can you spot and identify these other marine species?“

The post has gotten hundreds of reactions in the past day, but no one person managed to get it right.

So what’s the right answer?

Boring sponges (which were eating the shell), three jewel box shells, “several barnacles and the hard white tubes of fan worms,” the park wrote on Facebook.

“It also has about 4 small oysters attached,” officials said. “Although the oyster itself is no longer in the shell, both the upper and lower oyster shell is there. We don’t often get to see both shells of an oyster.”

Beaches on the Outer Banks are known to feature piles of shells after storms, along with bits of shipwrecks and occasionally live World War II weaponry. Erosion has also been known to expose ancient seashells that have been buried for centuries beneath the islands.

Among the most unusual shells discovered in recent years was a 2-pound prehistoric clam shell that was nearly 6 inches across. That’s twice the size of modern clams, McClatchy News reported. It was found at Cape Lookout in 2019, after Hurricane Dorian.

This story was originally published July 2, 2021 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Strange seashell found on the Outer Banks puzzles social media. What happened to it?."